


The Wrong Enemy

by Moon_Raccoon_exe



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Ardyn Izunia Being An Asshole, Attempted Murder, Blood and Violence, Choking, Fighting, Gladio beats the hell out of Ardyn, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 16:29:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14794007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moon_Raccoon_exe/pseuds/Moon_Raccoon_exe
Summary: The prince and his retinue take a break and spend a day in the woods, at camp.When Ignis leaves to look for ingredients and doesn't come back, Gladio searches for him, only to stumble upon one Chancellor Ardyn Izunia. Gladio had never trusted that man, but never attacked.Until that day."My, poor Ignis didn't stand a chance."Or, the once when Gladio found out that the perfect chance to attack Ardyn turned to be the worst choice of his life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally prompted/"requested" on Tumblr. Don't check the link if you don't want to spoil yourself, as the request itself explains the entire story.
> 
> Link to original Tumblr post is [here](http://moonraccoon-exe.tumblr.com/post/172186132993/imagine-gladio-seeing-ignis-as-ardyn-but-ignis).
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy, and do let me know what you think!
> 
> Apparently I adore Ignis whump! Wop! /O/

It happened once, nearby camp.

They had gone too deep into the woods, and the Regalia was a long way from there. The previous night, they had had a very nasty fight against both daemons and the empire at the same time; Noctis unleashed armiger at least two times and used all the magic he had. Adding to that the excruciatingly long walk they took to go into the woods in the first place, Noctis ended up wrecked. The pain in his leg from his back injury had made it almost impossible for Noctis to keep walking, and Gladio carried him the rest of the way; Ignis attended to his physical pain like usual when it got too bad, but even then what Noctis needed the most was to rest.

Sort of saddened from the events, Ignis said it was no troubles if they spent the next day at camp.

It had been a rather boring day; Prompto was the most bored one, and left camp multiple times for hours to explore around and take photographs. Sometimes, Gladio accompanied him. Ignis too had gone for exploration to kill some time, and Noctis himself, awake and bored but with no desire to walk, spent hours either playing in his phone, talking with Prompto, and even went away to a very near spot to fish for a while. Gladio accompanied him while the other two stayed at camp; when they came back, with three fat and fresh fish, only Prompto was there, sat in his chair and checking his camera.  
“Where’s Iggy?” Gladio was first to ask, looking around.  
“Went to look around to see if there was anything that worked as ingredients, he said” Prompto replied distractedly. “Running low on veggies!”  
“I hope he comes back with empty hands” Noctis said lazily as he reached for his friend, ready to immediately change subject and show the blond what he had caught.

Gladio smiled and sat for a while with them, but after a couple minutes he stood up again.  
“Well, leave you two for a while” Gladio said. “I’m gonna go look for Iggy.”  
“Y’know he’s very capable of defending himself?” Noctis said a bit teasingly.  
“A little extra protection makes no harm” Gladio answered and started walking away. “Don’t you set the camp on fire while we’re gone!”  
“Eh” was all the answer he got while the two younger men continued with silly conversations.

It took Gladio a while. Prompto did point where Ignis had gone to, and Gladio liked to think that he knew his boyfriend enough to know what sort of route he would take. He found some footprints and some signs of his presence, so he followed what little he had of track, calmly. He had no particular reasons to worry, and he only wished to make Ignis some company, so he did not rush.

Right as he was fearing he had gotten too much into the woods with yet no signs of his boyfriend, he heard some movement nearby, so he turned in its direction.  
But, instead of seeing Ignis or his characteristic hairstyle, what he saw was a patterned mantle and a long coat, and red hair, disappearing behind a tree.  
His heart skipped a beat.  
The red-violet hair was unnatural and could only belong to one person.  
_Ardyn._

To make sure, and entirely alert, Gladio started following him in absolute silence, like only someone trained with survival skills could move. Ardyn nearby camp was danger; Ardyn on his own was danger, and, if he was around, Gladio would make sure to shoo him away whatever it would take.  
He walked only to be taken off-guard by the sound of bushes and leaves, always turning just to see the last sight that the Chancellor left behind as he walked somewhere else.  
Gladio followed for very few minutes.  
Before he was caught off-guard.

“Isn’t it irresponsible to leave your sworn protected so far from yourself, Shield?”

Gladio controlled a gasp and quickly looked over his shoulder to find the Chancellor standing behind him, thankfully with a good distance in between. Gladio turned around fully and stood prepared for battle, growling. _Ardyn._ Unexpected, almost unbelievable, but there he was, right in front of him.  
“As irresponsible as letting your darling go so far away of camp _alone”_ Ardyn taunted, giving him one of those psychotic side smiles. Gladio’s heart skipped a beat yet again and he tried, and half failed, to pretend this wasn’t scaring him. “My, poor Ignis didn’t stand a chance.”  
Straightforward, so unlike the Chancellor…which was very concerning, and smelled like a trap.  
But, trap or not….  
_Ignis._  
What had he done to Ignis!?

Gladio stood frozen for a few moments, terror written on his face at what Ardyn’s words were implying, before he was able to react.  
“Where is he!?” Gladio roared. “What did you do to Ignis!?”  
“My, what did I do to him, indeed” Ardyn continued mocking, taking some steps back. “I wonder, I wonder.”  
With that said, Ardyn quickly turned around and, like a child, ran away, disappearing quickly from Gladio’s sight by using the trees to his vantage. Instead of yelling, Gladio immediately started running after him, losing no time, as fast as possible.

He lost sight of him every now and then, but always found the track again. He ran for only some yet frantic seconds, barely a minute, before he emerged from some bushes.

And found him.

Like he was indeed a child and had quickly changed the game or had gotten distracted, Ardyn was down on his ankles looking at something on the ground. When Gladio came from behind the bush, Ardyn, having heard the rustle, looked from above his shoulder.  
“Ah, Gladio” he greeted again and stood back up on his feet, turning around. Offering that stupid, fakely innocent smile. “My apologies for not having told you I’d be here. I didn’t want to cause any… _inconveniences.”_

Gladio frowned, glaring at him. He hated the Chancellor enough as it was; that he always pretended absolute innocence was wicked and it only irritated Gladio even more; that he was doing it right after admitting he had just done something to Ignis…it drove Gladio into absolute madness, rage in its purest state.

“So tell me” Ardyn said and tilted the head to a side, again giving him that cruel, taunting and mocking smile, “how is Noctis?”

One thing was to be evil and pretend to be innocent. Gladio had played his game calmly. But to have done something to Ignis, and now threatening Noctis…  
No. Gladio would not tolerate this.

“Are you alright?” Ardyn asked him with the best impression of a worried and clueless look on his face. “Perhaps we should head back to camp and-”  
“Shut your goddamn mouth!” Gladio started his words as a murmur between clenched teeth, but it increased until the last words came out as a roar. Ardyn blinked in surprise and stood still while Gladio stormed his way towards him.  
“Gladio?” Ardyn called when he saw him summon his sword.  
“Don’t call me that, you- liar!” Gladio yelled again, even more annoyed by the fact that Ardyn didn’t move from his spot; he was tense, but didn’t move, and Gladio felt that the Chancellor was so sure of his victory that he didn’t even try to protect himself.

Ardyn opened the mouth to say something again, but dodged in the moment that Gladio swung his sword in a slash that would have definitely killed him. Gladio followed his movement, hating that a man as mature moved with such a grace.  
“May I know what all this is about?” Ardyn requested, annoyed and sounding rather offended.  
“Like you don’t know” Gladio half-growled and reached him again, slashing once more; again, Ardyn dodged once, twice, three and four times as Gladio swung the sword. He hated how skilled the Chancellor was; doing backflips and jumping right in time and in the correct angle to dodge the blade. It was annoyingly well timed and precise.  
“Are you serious!?” Ardyn asked him and, didn’t Gladio know better, he would have sworn it was real surprise.  
“More than I have ever been in my life!”

With that, Gladio tried to hit him again. Ardyn continued to act on the defensive and retreat while Gladio attacked. At some point, Ardyn managed to dodge by rolling to a side. He landed on a knee and a hand and moved the other hand up. He moved the fingers slightly, not taking the eyes off Gladiolus. He moved the fingers again and looked in what Gladio could almost swear was shock at his hand; it was like he was trying to summon a weapon like Noctis and his companions could, except, of course, nothing appeared. Gladio hesitated only a moment in which Ardyn looked at both his hands as if sincerely surprised and frightened that nothing was appearing, but he took the distraction to his vantage and swung the sword again, charging against him. Ardyn barely managed to move to a side, and continued to try to move the hands.

Gladio took it as mockery; the Chancellor making fun of the way they could summon weapons, as if thinking that without them they were nothing. Still furious, he charged against him once more.  
Ardyn, weaponless, could only dodge once more and stay on the defensive side. Gladio swung the sword against him multiple times, and Ardyn tried to kick his weapon away, but with no success. At some point Ardyn tried to run away, but Gladio did not let him; he fought against him with all his might, Ardyn didn’t even have a chance to move from the spot.

However, Ardyn fought back, still on the defensive. And he was doing…beyond great.  
No matter how many times Gladio attacked, Ardyn was anticipating his movements and blocking him. Ardyn defended himself against Gladio almost like he had done it endless times and already knew his way of attacking and moving perfectly.  
It reminded Gladio of Ignis; and that reminded him of the Chancellor taunting him about Ignis’ unknown state, which only did but fuel his rage. Roaring out, Gladio used his rage to his favor and, while he found no opening in Ardyn’s defenses, he broke through them and managed to punch him right on the face. Ardyn stumbled back and Gladio tackled him, throwing him to the ground.  
“Finally” Gladio half-growled half-yelled at him when he pinned him to the ground, hands on the Chancellor’s shoulders. “Finally, after so _long,_ I get my chance for only the two of us.”  
“How _dare_ you hit me right on the face!?” Ardyn growled at him, frowning and utterly angered as well. “Are you demented!?”

Ardyn could not say anything else; Gladio’s fist hit him on the cheek so hard his head moved to a side and some spat escaped him accidentally from the blow alone.  
“You can fake your innocence all that you want” Gladio said and threw the other fist to his other cheek, earning another groan from the Chancellor. “But you can be sure as hell that I’m not buying it, and I’ve never done!”  
“What are you talking ab-!?”  
“I’ve been waiting to get my hands on you for so long” Gladio yelled and continued hitting him. “All I’ve been waiting is for no one to see us, and right now- right now you’re _mine.”_  
“What?” Ardyn asked him, again with his best and almost real impression of surprise and sincere confusion. His mouth had already started to bleed, and it felt like victory in Gladio’s knuckles.  
“Don’t pretend you don’t know!” Gladio yelled and grabbed him by the collar of his coat, only to pull him up and slam him back against the ground. “All of this is your fault! All of this is your fault! If you had never appeared- if you had never followed us…!”

This time, it was Gladio who could not finish talking; Ardyn somehow managed to wrap his legs around his waist in a very skilled lock, pushed him to a side and rolled a little more until, with only graceful and light movements, he broke free from Gladio and got time enough to stand up. Dizzy from the earlier hits, Ardyn hesitated and stumbled while trying to run away, which only gave Gladio time to stand back up and summon his sword. Ardyn, still stumbling, turned around on time to see him swing the sword and moved to a side; he fell to the ground but stood up and ran before Gladio could pin him down again.

Gladio caught up with him and attacked; the Chancellor still moved with a grace that was both familiar and entirely unknown; he knew Ardyn was no weak man, but for him to have this sort of acrobatic skills, it was surprising. Still, Gladio did not let the surprise distract him and he continued to attack mercilessly. Ardyn sometimes tried questioning him or asking him to stop, but it never worked; Gladio blowed attack after attack non-stop, shut the Chancellor up, or even managed to hit him.

Once, the Chancellor jumped off the ground to avoid a slash, and landed right on top of the blade; he could have hit Gladio on the face with all his strength, but all that he did was to poke his eyes, like a child. Yet, it worked; Gladio groaned and stumbled backwards, blinded for a moment. The Chancellor took the opening to hit back in a sequence of hits that Gladio knew very well.  
At some point, Ardyn aimed to hit his neck in a way and on the correct spot that would have him faint; angered, Gladio managed to block his attack before it landed, twisted the Chancellor’s arm, heard him almost scream and kicked him away once more.

They continued to fight in a very even status; it took longer to put the Chancellor down than Gladio had thought, but he also was, somehow, much less troubles than he had expected. Both had managed to land hits on each other, but, either the Chancellor was much weaker than he looked, or he was, for some reason, holding back; he had barely bruised Gladio minorly, almost always aimed to try and put him down, where Gladio hit him with all his strength aiming to kill. He had only managed to hit him with fists so far, but had still managed to hurt the Chancellor enough; he gave him a very bad bruise on a temple, and his cheeks were already colored (whether it was dirt or bruises, Gladio couldn’t difference but he hoped for the latter) from the earlier events; blood ran down a corner of his mouth, as well as out of both nostrils from the first hit Gladio landed on him, and he was getting quickly exhausted.

At some point, after managing to barely block a series of attacks from the Shield, Ardyn stumbled back, dizzy and looking very weakened. He looked at Gladio with terror, the real kind, the one that Gladio had been craving to see in this horrible man.  
“…Gladio…” Ardyn staggered in his place. “Stop this madness right now…you’re…you’re scaring me…”  
“That is very much the point!” Gladio yelled and ran towards him again, sword in hands. Ardyn retook a defensive position, but he looked sincerely worried; clearly knowing himself in disadvantage and a clear defeat soon to come.

Ardyn still had more than enough strength to continue dodging, but Gladio was more angered than Ardyn could handle. He avoided hits and slashes for a long time. His pattern seemed familiar in the back of Gladio’s head, but he was not conscious of it; all that he knew was that he had ‘learned’ Ardyn’s pattern of movements, so he waited, aimed, calculated for the right moment, watched Ardyn dodge, saw him move, saw his opening, swung the sword and-  
“K-ah!”  
The blade; it had cut into one of his sides. Profoundly enough.

Ardyn stumbled and staggered a couple steps back, hands on his side, head down. He removed one of them to look at it; Gladio, from his own spot, could see the Chancellor’s palm, covered in red as if though he had put it on paint intentionally. Ardyn trembled and he looked absolutely terrified. Gladio wondered if this was the first time the Chancellor ever saw his own blood. It tasted greatly in his mouth, the idea of the Chancellor already sensing his own death, only seconds away, and fearing in his last moments. Ardyn continued to look at his own hand for a few seconds, and then he closed the eyes tightly.  
“Gladio…” he called tremblingly, looking up at him and pressing his wound with both hands. “Why?”

Gladio did not answer; he would not fall in any of this man’s trickeries and lies.  
He ran towards him again.

Gladio swung the sword when he was close enough; Ardyn, still taking more strength from the gods know where within him, dodged, and looked for an opening; soon enough, he had invaded Gladio’s space beyond the weapon distance, way too close for Gladio’s liking; at this distance, his weapons were more an obstacle than help, so he made them disappear and blocked a hit right in time with a forearm. Ardyn changed to an offensive that still aimed more to put him down rather than to cause any pain; hits landed here and there from and on both sides. The Chancellor had to let go of his injury to attack like this, possibly aiming at putting Gladio down as fast as possible so that he could hold and attend to it immediately afterwards.

Meanwhile, he let himself bleed.

At some point, Gladio managed to push Ardyn back enough and tried summoning his sword, but it suddenly didn’t appear. Gladio tried again and again, and he lowered the guard at the absolute surprise that his armiger wasn’t working. Ardyn took the distraction to his vantage and attacked, managing to pin Gladio to the floor. Gladio kneed his injured side and rolled so that he took the top; still not giving up, Ardyn managed to wrap a leg around Gladio’s neck, in a flexibility rarely seen in anyone, which distracted Gladio enough while the chancellor took a grip of him and wrapped the other leg around his neck too, rolled around, and had the Shield locked down to the ground, facedown.  
It would have worked fantastically, Ardyn would have won…had he not been injured.  
With that disadvantage, Ardyn was weakening with each second, so Gladio blindly aimed for his side again; Ardyn stopped his fist, but it insisted until hitting him on the wound and making him scream out in pain. Gladio got rid of him and retook his place on top, pinning the Chancellor to the ground.

Before he could try any other flexible lock, Gladio put one of his heavy and strong knees to Ardyn’s chest; the Chancellor groaned and his body jumped from the hit. Instead of just hitting, Gladio kept the knee there and pressed, deeper, harder. Ardyn groaned and lost the breath for a moment, and right as he was about to talk, he went mute and his eyes went as wide as possible when he both heard and felt it.  
It was a delight to Gladio, to hear and feel the Chancellor’s ribs break under his knee. Once they were broken, he adjusted the knee and put even more pressure in the correct spot, and he got what he was aiming for.  
He cut the Chancellor’s trail of air.  
Ardyn couldn’t breathe.

“…Gladi-” Ardyn tried to call in that breathless, suffocated murmur that he could barely manage, but he lost the voice again the deeper Gladio pressed with the knee.  
Just to make sure, both of Gladio’s big, heavy hands flew towards his neck and grabbed his throat, squeezing immediately.  
If he could not use his weapons, he would choke this man to his death barehanded.

“You think I’m buying your lies” Gladio growled at him, watching his hands wrapped around the Chancellor’s throat perfectly, covering all skin of his neck. “But all you’ve ever done has all been for your own selfish reasons. Noctis this, Noctis that. I am _sick_ of hearing you talk about Noctis. I know your intentions towards him, and I’ll never allow you to lie a single finger on him, did you hear me!?”  
Ardyn, of course, could not reply. He kept the eyes on Gladio, widened like Gladio had no idea a man could open them; the mouth was open and trying to gasp for air, but with no success. The terror was clear in his gaze and, for a moment, Gladio felt terrible and even hesitated; the eyes looked so human and so scared, it frightened Gladio for a moment. But then he remembered; this had been the man that played a huge role in Niflheim’s weapon advance, a huge role in the Insomnia invasion, the man that had been playing them as fools, and who had just admitted to have done something to Ignis and had just threatened Noctis. This man, more than anyone, deserved to die. If Gladio could not use his weapons, his bare hands alone would do. Anything so long this creature stopped breathing as soon as possible.

Motivated by the anger, Gladio growled and squeezed harder; Ardyn’s eyes looked like they could pop out of their sockets in any second, and his expression twisted even more into desperation and clear asphyxiation. The Chancellor’s hands had a hold of one of Gladio’s wrist and one of his hands ever since the Shield first held his throat, and desperately tried to take them off him; he grasped, pulled, he even tried by trying to scratch to injure. His nails did cause some damage to Gladio’s hands, but he did not loosen his grip in any second. He adored the sight of Ardyn’s hands so helpessly and desperately changing angles and grips, trying to do it all, all to get Gladio’s hands off him, with no success.

Ardyn’s legs either kicked the air or tensed too hard while Gladio choked him, as if trying to do something. Gladio’s own hands were pressing and squeezing so hard the veins had popped out, and for a moment it felt like Ardyn’s throat would literally shatter. Gladio pressed harder, harder, and Ardyn’s attempts of gasps stopped for a second when something cracked.  
Despite his desperation, he did not break eye contact with Gladio in any second.  
He was _begging_ for his life.  
And Gladio ignored him and squeezed harder.

Ardyn was already red in the face and he continued to try to do something while staring at Gladio. Too long into the choking, and almost as if it was a last resource, Ardyn seemed to have brought a hand up as if to touch Gladio’s face, but it returned by instinct to Gladio’s hands to still helpessly, uselessly try to do something.  
Ardyn’s terrified gaze stayed on Gladio’s all the time.  
He started tearing up. To Gladio’s surprise, the Chancellor was tearing up.  
He looked terrified, but…there was also some sort of sadness in his eyes. Like he was being betrayed by a dear one. For a moment, Gladio thought about hesitating again, but his glare inteisfied and he pressed harder; he couldn’t let this man’s old tricks fool him. He was going to kill this man right here, right now.

Gladio heard some noises similar to voices nearby, but he was so focused into choking this man and too into his own anger that he paid no attention to what the voices were saying or who they belonged to, until they were too close and became loud enough to hear them.  
“No, he’s serious!”

Next thing that Gladio knew was that, a few seconds later, someone was trying to pull him away of Ardyn. Gladio growled loudly and pushed back the attacker with a hand, but had it return to Ardyn very quickly. The Chancellor’s eyes had rolled to the back of his head, his eyelids were fluttering, and his whole body suffered spasms that Gladio controlled with the knee he kept on Ardyn’s chest.  
“What are you doing, Gladio!? Stop!” the desperate voice of who sounded like Prompto yelled, and two pair of arms tried to grab and pull him, but Gladio only planted himself further down on the Chancellor, squeezing his throat harder and desperately muttering ‘die already, die already!’ while the other two pair of arms tried to move him.

At some point, Noctis’ face sneaked between Gladio’s and Ardyn’s, terrified like Gladio had never seen him.  
“Gladio, stop!” the prince yelled and moved away to try and push Gladio, but the Shield put him aside and continued with his task. “Gladio! Stop! What are you doing to Ignis!?”

Gladio looked up, for the first time breaking eye contact with the Chancellor, to look at Noctis. He looked more terrified than Gladio had ever seen him before in his entire life, and in absolute shock. Gladio did not understand his words, and the way he looked so…  
Gladio looked back down at the man underneath him.  
Face bleeding everywhere, glasses lost, and expression somewhere between desperation, piercing pain, and unconsciousness, _Ignis_ was there, trying to keep eye contact with him through the spasms and the fluttering eyelids.  
Gladio immediately let go.  
A bit too late.  
Ignis closed the eyes at the time the spasms stopped.

“Ignis!” both Prompto and Noctis yelled as Gladio removed the knee from Ignis’ chest, now just straddling him. The younger men got closer; Noctis cupped Ignis’ face and Prompto looked at it as well, blocking any sight of him from Gladio.  
Gladio only sat there in absolut shock, and terror.

The sound of glass breaking.  
_…Ignis?_  
“What’s wrong, Noct? Why is he still-?”  
But…how was that possible?  
“Agh. I don’t know, the- the potions aren’t working!”  
Oh gods.  
_The sword wound._

Gladio was in entire and literal shock, but the idea of Ignis being in death danger was bigger than his surprise, and he was able to make his body obey. He moved off Ignis and looked at his side; the wound was bigger than Gladio had thought, and it bleed like a wild river. The red stain on his white shirt did but grow, threatening, terrifying.  
“Ignis! Ignis, wake up!” Noctis and Prompto were calling while Gladio hurried his tank top off himself and pressed it to the wound, feeling his hands already staining with blood. It was ridiculous, this was too much of it.  
“Noct, he’s not breathing!”

Gladio had no voice, but he could at least move; he gently but quickly pushed the guys apart to look at Ignis’ face. Not breathing. Ignis was- Gladio remembered and forced himself to not panic, and attend to first aid before that. Not breathing did not mean…did not mean dead, not yet.  
“P-Prompto, hold this to the wound” Gladio ordered with vaguely a thread of voice; Prompto seemed to have just noticed the injury, and he looked terrified, but he lost no time and tried to stop the bleeding as best as possible while Gladio attended to Ignis.  
“Gladio, what did you do!?” Noctis yelled, more terrified than angered, a hand on Ignis’ chest and the other on the back of his head.  
“I- swear he was Ardyn, I thought- I saw-” Gladio tried explaining while checking Ignis’ pulse and heartbeat. “I thought he was Ardyn, I-I didn’t mean-…”

Noctis and Prompto shared a confused glance; that had no explanation. Maybe at first sight, which was already senseless enough, but to have attacked and choked him mistaking him by someone else? Absolutely senseless.  
“But that doesn’t matter right now, I’m-” Gladio hurried and reached down to confirm as Prompto had said; Ignis was not breathing. “No…no, no, no- no, Ignis, no-”  
Still forcing the shock to stay away, Gladio attended to Ignis in first aid, opened his bleeding mouth, and tried as best as he could to give him the air that he needed. A few minutes with Ignis not breathing, and there would be serious brain or heart damage…and the potions were not working…  
Gladio only moved away to check if Ignis was breathing on his own again, and went back to give him more air if he had yet not recovered it.

Prompto and Noctis, too shocked and far too confused, could only stare at Gladio’s strange behavior, and his desperate attempts to try and not let Ignis die right after having almost killed him on purpose.


	2. Chapter 2

His senses came back far too slowly, too slowly.

Ignis was half-conscious for about half-an-hour before he could manage to just try and open the eyes. He had taken deep breaths in as result of just waking up, but each time he did a piercing pain in his chest made him wince. It was like he had large and thick needles buried across all his torax, and each breath did but push his lungs into them. He breathed shakily and immediately regretted having woken up. Gods, no, _no,_ the pain…he was better off knocked out, feeling nothing. His side, why did his side burn worse than Ifrit’s hellfire? And his chest…gods, his throat, and multiple spots across his body…no, Astrals, why did you let him wake up to this torture?

“Ignis?”

It sounded distant, with a bit of echo, but very familiar. Ignis forced himself to open the eyes, little by little. Wherever he was, it was dark. It took a while before his sight focused, and a longer while as he understood that what he was looking at was the ceiling of the tent of every night. Thirsty, his first instinct was to swallow- only to find a new burning pain in his throat, as if though the saliva he swallowed had instead been knives.  
“Oh- _gods-”_ he breathed out so subtly and lowly he barely heard himself, and tried to push himself upwards to sit; the pain of the throat and the chest returned, and were joined by the increasing burning one of his side.

It was overhelming. It felt like his entire body was being pierced and set on fire at the same time.

With a loud groan and some winces of pain, he returned to lie back. As he was doing that, he only noticed the hand behind his head that was helping him to lie it softly on the pillow when it let go. He forced the tearful eyes open again and turned to a side.  
His heart skipped a beat.  
 _Gladio._

Ignis hated to admit it, but…  
He suddenly felt terrified.

Gladio could notice it very easily; the fear in Ignis’ eyes and his expression when he turned to find the Shield knelt at his side, watching him. It sent shivers through Gladio’s veins, and it felt like a train running over his heart, but he tried to keep his composure, and fought back the tears. He said nothing for a moment; Ignis just looked at him with those terrified eyes, looking at him as if…as if expecting him to hit again.

He kept one of Ignis’ hands between both of his, something that was still apparently unnoticed by the injured strategist that laid before him. Watching Ignis in pain made him want to massage his hand to comfort him and distract him from the pain, but….but, partly, he feared to cause any further discomfort or pain, and, partly…he was scared that Ignis would notice he was holding his hand. In case…he would maybe want to take it away, which Gladio was not sure he could stand…

Ignis breathed with difficulties and each exhale and each inhale seemed to make him uncomfortable and put him in pain, enough to actually make him look away of Gladio only to close the eyes and sigh tremblingly.  
“Please, don’t go back to sleep, Iggy” Gladio said very softly, tears covering his eyes. “I know it hurts, but…Noct and Prompto are- they’re coming back soon, with a doctor. Potions aren’t working, and…we didn’t want to move you too much, so I…” he paused to press the lips into a thin line, closed the eyes to fight back the tears, and tried talking again despite the huge knot in his throat. “…please, just don’t go back to sleep.”

Ignis opened the eyes again, tearful, and looked at him again. He did not look very conscious, and it was clear he was in a lot of pain. Gladio couldn’t blame him; he could apply first aid to patch up the injury of his side, but that did not erase the pain of it. Or the pain of the broken ribs. Or the pain in his throat. For a moment, Gladio regretted having asked him to not sleep again; Ignis had had a very troubled sleep, and it was terrible to hear him wince and watch him tremble in pain, but at least, asleep, he was not conscious of the pain. But what if he fell asleep again and did not…wake up this time?

Gladio tried to not overthink and forced himself to stay calm. Ignis moved the jaw and opened the mouth, but Gladio was quicker.  
“Please, don’t try to speak” Gladio murmured. “I…” he paused and the grip he had on Ignis’ hand involuntarily tightened, squeezing. He looked away and down, and tears blurred his sight. “I…broke…” he used all of his might to rein the tears and looked at Ignis again. “….I think the bone of your neck, there, under the chin, is broken…” Gladio said while gently gesturing towards it, but not daring to lie a single finger on the giant, dark purple bruise that was the entirety of Ignis’ throat. The sight of it made Gladio silence again and focus on it. He overthought for a while before looking away and blinking to get rid of the tears, inhaling, and said nothing afterwards.

It was a long pause with none of them saying anything. Gladio was still fighting to not break in tears, and Ignis did but look at him or try to control his pain with not much success. It took a moment before Gladio sniffled, quickly cleaned one eye, and looked at Ignis again, only to find him still staring. Gladio stared back and could not even force or fake a smile. He knew what he had done, and the doubt of whether Ignis could still or not die, because of his fault, it was absolute torture. He saw Ignis lick his lips quickly and open the mouth again as if to say something, but Gladio gently squeezed his hand again and shook the head. It took yet another long pause and a heavy, sad silence.

Gladio took in a breath as if to gather courage before he spoke again.  
“Ignis, I’m-” he paused and looked at his boyfriend. Ignis’ eyes cried without his consent and apparently without him noticing either, but they did not move off Gladio. “I’m…not sure if you’re conscious enough or not, and I’ll tell you again later when we heal you, because we _will_ heal you, I will explain _everything_ in detail, but…I…I need to tell you right now…” he paused and looked at Ignis again. He did not show signs of too much clarity, as in much pain as he was and barely having come awake after hours since the incident. But even if he was just barely conscious, he was conscious to some level, and Gladio needed him to know, _now._ He sighed again. “…Ardyn. He was around earlier” Ignis seemed to open the eyes a little more at that. “No, he’s gone. Noct and Prom are okay. They’re calling me each thirty minutes so I know they’re fine. Ardyn just wanted…”

He paused again, teeth clenching. He sighed shortly and agrily not to snap out right there at someone that wasn’t even there.  
“…Ardyn…just wanted to mess with us” he started. “He…I don’t know how…magic, magitek unknown, but something, _somehow,_ he…” he paused and gestured a little with a hand, and sighed when he did not find words. “…I know it sounds stupid, and I beg you to believe me as absurd as it sounds, but…he…somehow…tricked me. He…made me think…that you were him.”

He let that info sit. Ignis blinked in response, but gave no particular reaction.  
“…somehow, whatever he did to me, I…was seeing him where it was you” Gladio continued explaining. “It was his voice, his appearance, everything. Somehow, he made me think you were him. And I…shit, damn, how was I supposed to know he could do something like that?” he cursed in murmurs. “How was I supposed to know? I-I didn’t know he could do such a thing, how could that possibility ever cross my head…?” he sighed again and paused to calm down. “…I just…needed you to know this right now because…I want you to know that I didn’t mean to attack you. I- I did mean to- I did aim to attack and cause harm, but…never _you”_ he looked at the strategist and softly squeezed the grip on his hand again. “But _never_ you. I didn’t know it was you. I know it sounds stupid, but…I didn’t know it was you. I thought you were-” when he heard his own voice becoming but a broken thread at the end of his words, he paused again to bite down on his lower lip.

Ignis was only staring at him with those exhausted, pained, and tearful eyes. Gladio kept eyes closed and lips hardly pressed, controlling himself.  
“…I’m so sorry, Ignis” he managed to whimper out in a whisper. “I’m so sorry. I almost-” he sniffled. “…I didn’t know it was you. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Never, _never,_ Iggy, I didn’t-…” he paused again to sniffle and try to control a sob. He kept the head down and Ignis’ hand in his own. He quietly cried a couple tears, head down. He could not dare look at Ignis. “…I’m sorry, Ignis. I almost-…I almost kill-…”  
He could not finish the sentence. He lowered the head even more, sobbed, and covered his eyes with a hand, which he used to clean them. He silently sobbed again and forced himself to stop it. While he forced himself back to calm, he suddenly felt something unexpected.

Ignis grabbed his hand back, and gently squeezed.

Ignis was not agonizing; he was badly beaten and still needed to recover some blood, but he was not dying. Even then, Gladio had not expected him to squeeze his hand back.  
He looked up with the eyes still tearful and two paths of tears down his cheeks. Ignis was looking at him with the eyes slightly more open than before, as if in surprise.  
“…Ardyn?” Ignis asked in a too hoarse and too quiet voice, like he had not spoken a word in a century. Gladio nodded.  
“He- confused me, some sort of illusion magic and…” Gladio noticed he was just being repetitive, so he cut himself there and sighed. He sniffled and cleaned an eye again, lowering the head again and bringing Ignis’ hand slightly up. “…please, just don’t talk, your throat is…”  
“So you don’t hate me?”  
Gladio looked up at Ignis’ eyes again.

The adviser was smiling.  
It was the weakest smile Gladio had ever seen in any human face in all his life. It was incredibly exhausted, and it had a noticeable hint of absolute sadness in among. But it was a smile; as tiny, as exhausted, as sad as it was, it was a smile.  
And that, along with the question, was terribly, _terribly_ heartbreaking.

Ignis was at the brink of death…and all that he worried and cared about during agony was whether Gladio hated him or not…

“…no, Ignis, no” Gladio whispered to him, holding the adviser’s hand in one of his and using the other to softly and very fearfully ghost Ignis’ hair. “…no, Ignis, I could _never-…”_ he had to swallow when he felt the huge knot in his throat. Gladio leaned down until his face was closer to Ignis’, but he did not dare rest the forehead against Ignis’ bruised one. “…no, Ignis, I could _never_ hate you. Not ever. Not in a million lives. Please, don’t-…” his hand stayed on Ignis’ hair, and the one holding his hand tightened a little around it. He started trembling and crying again. “…please, don’t ever…don’t ever think that again, not even for a second…”

Even though Gladio’s heart was breaking so hard inside that Ignis could almost hear it, the adviser still could not help a tiny chuckle. He winced in pain after the sound escaped him, and he tensed, the body moving and squirming a bit. Heck, how could a broken bone in the neck and a mistreated throat cause this much pain when making the tiniest of sounds?  
“…I’m so sorry I made you think that, Ignis, I don’t- no, I _can’t-…”_ Gladio continue to apologize, forehead an inch from Ignis’, but not daring to touch him. The adviser had closed the eyes again, but he was still smiling. “…I’m so sorry…”  
“…Ardyn…” Ignis whispered. When he opened the eyes again, a pair of tears rolled down the sides of his head, but his smile widened a little. “…for once…I’m so happy to say…” he closed the eyes again and his smile grew. “…thank the gods it was Ardyn…”

Another laugh tried to make it out, but all he got was a little chuckle before going back to gasping and trembling. Gladio moved away and proceeded to whisper a series of rushed instructions out of reflex (asking Ignis to calm down, to keep quiet, to stay still), unable to do anything that wasn’t shush him and hold his hand and caress his hair. Once he got Ignis to calm down a little more, and after a long pause, Gladio could just look at him.  
It was…unbelievable. Gladio had just beat him near death, and the explanation, while real, sounded ridiculous and like an excuse and lie…  
…but Ignis trusted so, so much in him that he did not question him, and believed his words fully, immediately. Which was a relief, but it was also…desperately heartbreaking.

How selfless, how much love and trust Ignis had on him…  
…after how much Gladio had shown to not deserve any of that.

“…hey, Iggy” he waited, but by any response he got a quiet and questioning hum. “Don’t go back to sleep, Iggy. Just a few minutes…Noct is coming back and…”  
“I don’t hate you either, Gladio” Ignis interrupted him, even with the voice as low, slow and hoarse. The words took the Shield rather off guard and he stayed quiet. The knot in his throat returned, much bigger than before, and his eyes immediately dropped tears. “Please…don’t hate yourself for this…”

Ignis had closed the eyes again. He still was tense from the pain all across his entire body, but he seemed to be drifting back into unconsciousness. Gladio did not want him to, but he was too focused in how…painfully precise Ignis’ words were. Ignis knew him too well, and he knew how to hit the most fragile heartstrings. Even if it was for good, it still hurt.  
“I don’t hate you for this” Ignis whispered more lowly. And, very slowly, he added; “I love you, Gladdy…”  
“And I love you too, Iggy…” Gladio murmured in a trembling breath, grabbing Ignis’ hand with both of his again and kissing it. “And I didn’t mean-”  
Ignis shook the head as if asking him to not say it. Gladio didn’t.  
“…I’m sorry, Gladio” Ignis whispered through a barely opened mouth. “…But I really want to sleep…”

Gladio did not stop him this time. If it hurt him less while unconscious, then so be it. Gladio was still petrified, absolutely terrified for each second that Ignis spent asleep in this state, but he could not be selfish. Not again. All that he could do, as much as he hated to see Ignis close the eyes, for much that he wanted to shake him awake, was to kiss his hand again. He did not dare kiss the bruised forehead, the giant bruise that was his injured throat, he did not dare lie a finger on the multiple broken ribs, or on the large sword cut on his side. He did not dare, and he did not feel…worthy anymore.

Love was supposed to be “to never hurt your loved one in any sense”. What sort of hypocrite asshole would he be, kissing the injuries that he made himself?  
How was he supposed to look at Ignis now? How was he supposed to touch, caress, kiss, and love his body after this? How was he any worthy of a single pebble of Ignis’ love now? How could Ignis still love him, how could he not hate him, how could Gladio simply, absurdly just… _forgive_ himself after this?

How was he supposed to touch or look at Ignis now?

“…I’m so sorry, Ignis…” Gladio whimpered very quietly, eyes tightly closed, tears escaping through them, body trembling and heart aching so bad that it physically hurt, and he had to put a hand to his own chest like that could help at all.

He kissed Ignis’ hand again, and sat there in absolute silence not counting his own sniffling, looking after the man that he loved, or was supposed to love, and that he had nearly killed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments are dearly appreciated if you enjoyed the story, please and thank you! :3
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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